Continued Negotiations

[Anchor Lead]

South Korea and Japan have held talks amid the ongoing conflict over Korean court rulings, on the issue of Japan's wartime forced labor. The two sides appear to have reached an agreement that the situation must not deteriorate further, in the form of economic retaliation.

[Pkg]

Kenji Kanasugi, Director General of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, silently walks into the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul.

[Soundbite] Kenji Kanasugi(Dir. of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan) : "(Reporter : What about economic measures? Will an arbitration committee be set up?) ……."]

The visiting Japanese official has held talks with Kim Yong-gil, Director General for Northeast Asian Affairs at the South Korean Foreign Ministry. They discussed ways to defuse bilateral tension over rulings issued by Korean courts that ordered compensation for victims of Japan's wartime forced labor. Japan reiterated its previous stance that the rulings were in violation of the 1965 Korea-Japan agreement, and called for a diplomatic resolution. Seoul reportedly said that it is closely reviewing the issue. A Foreign Ministry official in Seoul said that Japan did not mention setting up an arbitration committee as the next step following the talks. Korea has conveyed its stance that it's not desirable to link the issue of court rulings to bilateral relations between the two nations. The two sides have reportedly agreed that the issue should not lead to a bilateral conflict. Japan also expressed concerns over the erection of a statue dedicated to a victim of forced labor near the Japanese consulate general in Busan. The two countries are holding director-level talks once a month or every other month. The latest meeting came a month after the last session held in Tokyo on February 1st.